


An Encounter at The Winterfell Pub

by Missy1978



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Injury Recovery, Modern Era, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-20 20:30:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21062759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy1978/pseuds/Missy1978
Summary: Sandor had some issues to work through with the help of The Elder Brother and Sansa.





	An Encounter at The Winterfell Pub

Sandor Clegane had survived his first shift back to work after the stabbing.

Three months ago during the final three hours of his overnight shift as a security guard for Lannister Industries he had rounded a corner only to encounter two thugs trying to sneak hard drives out of the building. Usually Sandor preferred the night shift of midnight to 9:00am, it was quiet and there was no one there to stare at his size, scowl and horrible scarring on his face. That night a fight had ensued, and even though Sandor could hold his own one-on-one; he was distracted by one of the thieves and the other stabbed him repeatedly in his side. He went down in a heap.

Sandor lay unconscious on the floor for two hours until the day shift started to drift in. They immediately called 911 and Sandor was quickly transported to the hospital. Emergency surgery, weeks in ICU then another few weeks of rehabilitation to get him back to form finally brought him to this point.

Two weeks into his hospital stay, when he was beginning to show signs of being on the mend, an in-house therapist, Elder Brother, had shown up in his room. EB, as he had insisted on being called, was really the first visitor (outside the “required” visits by representatives of Lannister Industries) Sandor had received during his hospital stay.

He had no family, and really no friends. His appearance was off putting to most people, so he kept to himself most of the time. It was EB’s appearance in his room that day changed Sandor’s outlook on life forever.

What Sandor didn’t know at the time was that hospital staff were very concerned about him. They feared that the injuries would compound Sandor’s feelings of low self-worth and he could sink into a depression that would impact his recovery. Sandor thought that every patient who had suffered his type of traumatic injuries ended up having to endure these types of visits, at least they hadn’t sent a priest to talk to him! So he was okay with answering EB’s questions, if only to get the interview finished so he could go back to watching gameshows on the television in his room. What Sandor hadn’t counted on was the continued visits from EB and the breaking down of the strongly built walls Sandor had around his heart.

They talked about everything: his family, childhood, his scarring, his job, his love life (or the lack thereof), friends (or the lack thereof); no topic was off limits. Sandor was brutally honest with EB, and after each session he felt lighter, almost as if he had someone to share the load with after all these years. For two and a half months, both in the hospital and once Sandor was released and back home, EB visited at least four times a week to talk.

While in the end nothing could be done about his size or scarring, something could defiantly be done about his attitude, and that is what EB worked on during their time together. Breaking down the walls meant building up Sandor’s self-esteem, and in EB’s opinion, there was a lot to work with! Sandor could be kind, and loyal and funny and he loved animals; these were excellent traits to work with.

EB decided to begin giving Sandor tasks to accomplish. Every week there was something new Sandor had to do, then report back to EB.

Grocery shop during the day, and make eye contact with at least ten people. Don’t get angry if they flinch at you because of your scars, they don’t know what a great guy you are, just smile at them.

Volunteer at an animal shelter. Sandor liked this one the best, he even ended up adopting one of the dogs. Once EB heard this, Sandor was tasked with walking Stanger daily, in the middle of the day, in a public park (and making eye contact with other dog walkers).

As the weeks went on and Sandor interacted with more and more people at EB’s insistence, he found it easier and he also came to a realization; maybe he was the reason he didn’t have friends, not the scars.

Once he didn’t scowl and yell when people reacted to him, it was much easier for them to look past his appearance and treat him as a man not a monster. The last task, however, was going to be the hardest. Sit at the counter of a diner, alone, and have a meal. The idea of being on display, alone, for a long period made Sandor nervous, so he delayed that task for as long as he could. That was how he ended up at the Winterfell Pub at 10:00 in the morning after his first shift back to work.

After finishing up his shift, Sandor was physically exhausted, but very proud of himself. He had been able to excise the ghosts of his last shift there successfully, and he deserved to celebrate.

Sandor rationalized that sitting at the bar in a pub was almost the same as sitting at the counter in a diner (he completely ignored the fact that there would be far fewer people in a pub at 10:00 am than there would in a diner at the same time). Driving home from his shift, Sandor noticed a new place had opened in his neighborhood.

The Winterfell Pub had “grand opening” banners across the front, and even though it was only 10:00 in the morning, there was a car in the parking lot, that must mean it was open for business. As he walked into the pub, Sandor noticed that the “last call” fluorescent lights were on, rather than the regular (dimmer) lighting. There would be no hiding once he was inside, the lights guaranteed everything (including his scars) would be on display for anyone in there.

As the bell over the door chimed he heard a female voice from underneath the bar call out to him “I’ll be right with you, I need to re-hook the hose to the tap” “no problem, take your time, I’m not in a hurry.”

Sandor settled at the bar to wait for the bartender to finish up her repair. Sandor looked around at the decor: very dark wood, banners with images of wolves’ heads, swords mounted to the wall; it was old fashioned, but he kind of liked it.

The bartended popped up from under the bar “hi, welcome to the Winterfell Pub, what can I get you?” Sandor was stunned into silence; this was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Long red hair in a single braid over her shoulder, bright blue eyes, porcelain skin, with the faintest trace of freckles; he was captivated.

For her part, the bartender studied Sandor, taking in his size, scars, expression; her eyes widened for a moment, but she never broke eye contact. It was as if she was mentally taking stock of him, and for once, he wasn’t found lacking.

“What kind of name is Winterfell for a pub?”

the bartender rolled her eyes and chuckled “that’s what I said when Jon told me that was what he wanted to call this place.”

“Who is Jon, your husband?”

“No, my cousin, he owns the place, I’m just helping him out while he’s still hiring staff. Winterfell is the town where we grew up in Canada.”

“So if you’re related to the owner, how come you got the crap shift of first thing in the morning?”

At this she burst into peals of laughter “I’m the only morning person in the entire family, the rest of them will take over at lunch time” “I’m Sansa by the way”

“Sandor”

they grinned at each other. “Now what can I get you?”

Sandor made a snap decision, even though the doctor had cleared him to drink alcohol again, he didn’t want to dull his senses in any way right now, he wanted to continue taking to Sansa. “Do you have any coffee?”

“Sure, I just put a pot on, let me get you a cup.”

Sansa walked to the other end of the bar and poured two cups of coffee and brought them back to where Sandor was sitting “mind if I join you?”

“Not at all”

They spent the next hour talking about everything and nothing. Sansa told him about her dog Lady and about her extended family who were all taking shifts at the bar to keep the costs down for Jon until he built up a clientele.

Sandor told her about recently adopting Stranger, then revealed how he was actually just coming off his 8 hour shift, and this was happy hour for him.

Sansa laughed “unfortunately the kitchen isn’t open yet, so I can’t offer you any happy hour munchies, but I’ll split my bagel with you.” Sandor tried to refuse, but after hearing his stomach growl, Sansa insisted and he relented.

As they were enjoying Sansa’s everything bagel with scallion cream cheese, the bell over the front door chimed to announce a new customer. They both turned to see a slight, dark haired man enter the pub.

“Hey Jon, oh my gosh, what time is it?”

Jon looked at his watch “11:45, am I the first one here?”

“Yep, but I guess Rob will probably be here in a few minutes, this is my friend Sandor, by the way.”

Jon walked over and held out his hand. As Sansa had done, he studied Sandor’s face but never flinched or looked away “It’s nice to finally meet a friend of Sansa’s, she never introduces us to anyone.”

Sansa just rolled her eyes and said to Sandor with a huge grin on her face “you’ll see why in a couple of minutes when Rob gets here, they’re idiots and I’m embarrassed to be related to them.”

At Jon’s fake pout, they burst into laughter.

Sandor realized he’d been sitting at the bar for almost two hours, the time had just flown by. Other than EB, he’d never met someone that was as easy to talk to as Sansa. He regretted that he had to leave, but Stranger would leave him a smelly present if he didn’t get home soon.

Sandor started to pull out his wallet to settle his tab, but Sansa waived him off. “forget it, It was just a cup of coffee, I think Jon can afford that” Sandor tried to figure out how to ask Sansa when she was working again; he was desperate to see her and get to know her better. But Sansa solved that problem

“what are you going to do now?”

“Go home, get Stanger, and take him for a long walk.”

With a grin, Sansa replied “maybe Lady and I could join you?” at Sandor’s stunned affirmative nod “Great it’s a date. Lady and I will meet you in the park by the gate in an hour.”

Sandor wandered out of the pub and wondered what had just happened. Did he really have a date with the most beautiful woman in the world in an hour? He shook his head in amazement. Who would have thought that there would be an advantage to getting stabbed and spending two months in the hospital? As he drove home to pick up Stranger for their date with Sansa and Lady, Sandor wondered how he was going to report this back to EB.

Sat at a bar alone, made eye contact, talked, fell in love. Yea, that was about right.


End file.
